Last Resort
by TheMoonclaw
Summary: Rydia knew there was one spell she could cast that would end this, here and now, but she also knew the risks.


**Author's Note:**

**Hello everyone! **

***Place disclaimer here***

**I wrote this because a few things bother me in Final Fantasy IV and upon reading this I'm sure you can figure out what. And, as always, this was good practice because I don't like writing battles. They never come out as epic as I want them too. I've actually had this done for weeks but I was using it to blackmail an update out of another writer on here. Yes, I do have an evil streak...**

**Anyway, enjoy..._this._**

* * *

Rydia's back slammed against the mirror-like tiles of the floor, knocking the wind out of her chest.

She winced, "_So much for summoning_…"

Three tries and all she had received were bruises. There'd be no help from her ethereal friends this battle.

There simply wasn't time to complete the spell to bring them forth. There was barely time to cast _anything_.

She staggered to her feet and flinched as a strike of lightning nearly hit her. As it was, she still felt a jolt from it since everything, including her, was wet.

They had Cagnazzo to thank for that. He had drenched all of them at the very start of this hellish battle.

Rydia called forth her least favorite element as fast as she could, before _someone_ interrupted the incantation, and then flung her wrist out with the final word; "Firaga!"

She had aimed the spell at Scarmiglione's deformed body but it was intercepted by a swoosh of Rubicante's cloak.

She glared at the fire fiend.

"Bastard," someone muttered next to her. Rydia didn't need to look to know who had just spoken, but curses aside, they were losing this battle. One archfiend was hard enough to deal with. All four at once was a death sentence.

When one was attacked by magic, another stopped the spell by absorbing it with their element. No one could even touch Barbariccia, she was simply too fast. Rosa had drained most of her magic to keep them all breathing, but there was no way she could heal as much as they needed.

FuSoYa wasn't having much luck either, and he was alternating between black and white magic when needed.

Rydia began another spell, ignoring the effect of magic deprivation, and tried to use a little lightning herself at the fiend of water. At the last second he slid inside his shell and the spell harmless shocked everything around him. She growled and took a deep breath to start it all over again when someone grabbed her arm and hauled her backwards.

Rydia almost reacted as though it was an attack and began a spell on impulse, but then a wave of fire sliced past and made her cringe.

"Are you alright?" Edge asked, releasing her.

She nodded, "Yes, I-"

There was a crash of thunder and they both winced. Apparently it wasn't aimed at them because they were unharmed when the flash faded.

Rydia took the moment to catch her breath and was about to enter the fray again when she happened to glance down.

She gasped, "Edge, your arm-"

"Is fine," he answered without looking at her.

That was obviously a lie but she didn't say anything. Besides, he was still holding a sword she was going to assume it wasn't as bad as it looked.

Barbariccia danced backwards, dodging three of Cecil's sword swings before ending with a flourish and flipping her ridiculously long hair.

"Much too slow, paladin." she taunted, "I'm afraid all of you are. But you seem to be missing someone…"

Scarmiglione wheezed what might have been a laugh, "Oh, that'sss right, he worksss for usss."

They both laughed, but it was cut short when Barbariccia narrowly sidestepped an arrow aimed at her face.

She grinned, "Oh, white mage has claws. To bad they aren't going to do you much good,"

Ice needles rained down on all of them and Rydia raised an arm to protect her face. One spike slit her upper arm, deeply, and she grit her teeth to avoid crying out in pain. After the assault was done, the wind fiend whipped her hair out and caught Rosa in the side, knocking her to the ground with a loud, '_crack_'.

The white mage cradled her arm, which was obviously broken, and Rydia admired her strength that she wasn't hysterical.

Cecil and FuSoYa both knelt beside her, the latter beginning a white magic spell for healing.

Barbariccia giggled, a grating sound, and held out her hand before waving them towards her, "Well?" she mocked, "Care to try again?"

Rydia summoned magic to wipe the smirk off her pristine face but before she could unleash it, a shuriken grazed across her cheek bone. Outraged, the woman touched her now bleeding face and snarled, "You are going to _pay_ for that!"

In the brief distraction, Rosa waved her good hand at Cecil, "Go, I'll be fine in a second."

"But-"

"Go!" she snapped, giving him a shove.

FuSoYa opened one eye, "She will be fine. It will only take me a moment."

Rydia caught her breath and glanced at Edge next to her, "Nice shot,

"It just nicked her," he replied, shaking his head.

"Still, it got her to shut up finally."

Her sarcastic remark made her spare her a slight smile, but the momentary rest was short lived and before long the battle began again, with them still on the losing side.

Not only was the battle hard, but it felt personal for the summoner as well.

She wasn't about to tell the others this, now or possibly ever, but she knew what the Archfiends were.

They were Eidolons.

Or at least, they used to be. She could feel it. At one time these creatures had been just like hers.

Rydia didn't know what had twisted them to their current disposition, or what had severed their link to the Feymarch and to summoners, but she was certain that they had been Eidolons a long time ago.

She felt, as the last of her kind, that it was her duty to stop them once and for all, before this power could be abused anymore. Eidolons were not meant to be tools for war, and she would end that legacy here and now.

Too bad it wasn't going to be easy. Rubicante proved this when he knocked aside her ice spell harmlessly, or when Scarmiglione took a hit without flinching.

The longer the battle went on, the worse it got. They were tired and the Giant was activating slowly but surely for every second they delayed.

Rydia stopped mid-spell and surveyed her surroundings.

Rosa was chanting again to assist with a healing, FuSoYa had just been shocked by a lightning bolt and was trying to get to his feet, Edge had finally stopped using his one arm and Cecil was barely standing, white armor stained with blood.

Rydia knew there was one spell she could cast that would end this, here and now, but she also knew the risks.

She was powerful enough to do it, to call forth that sort of force. There was enough pure blood in her veins and enough knowledge in her head to pull it off.

The Eidolons had warned her about the dangers. The spell would either consume her into madness or kill her.

There was no third option.

But, what choice did she have? Her friends were dying, and if they lost here, then the world was doomed. She wasn't being vain, it was fact. They were all that stood in the way of the world's demise.

"_Then there isn't a choice at all_," she thought, swallowing before taking a deep breath.

Her only regret was not getting to say goodbye to anyone; her friends, her Eidolons.

"_It doesn't matter, this is more important. I only hope I have enough energy left to do this…I'm sorry, everyone_…"

She closed her eyes and let the magic inside her body come alive.

She dropped all the barriers that had previously held this part of her power at bay, to keep it from taking her over. She loosed the locks and let it flow naturally.

The feeling was intoxicating and left her lightheaded and giddy. She held onto enough focus to speak the needed words, but most of them were unfamiliar to her and came instinctually.

One spoken word and the energy ebbed from her very soul into the spell she was summoning forth.

The spell that had killed Tellah, the great sage.

Rydia shuddered with the strength that was building and lost all her concentration in favor of drowning into magic.

It was painful, but strangely pleasurable at the same time.

And then, a moment of nothingness before she whispered the final word.

"Meteor."

The magic that had coalesced came undone and the motion broke her sanity and shattered her mind, body and soul.

Once the energy had taken all it could from her, she fell into darkness.

* * *

Rydia had expected to be dead, so it came as a literal shock when her consciousness was suddenly and violently jolt back into reality.

She gasped as her body involuntarily sat up, filled with breath again and strangely disconnected from her brain for a second.

She was vaguely aware that she was still in the same room she had just died in, but everything was so confusing that she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and let herself fall backwards, towards the cold floor.

Something prevented her from crashing down and forced her to stay sitting up, irritating what was left of her mind. She blinked her eyes open, the action using all her strength, and she tried to look around to understand what had just happened.

Hadn't she cast meteor?

She didn't feel dead, and she didn't feel all that insane, either. Maybe a little disoriented and uncomfortable, but not dead or mad.

"Rydia?"

The voice stabilized her frazzled perceptions for a moment and she looked to the side to see who had spoken to her.

Rydia was surprised by the look on Edge's face. He was never worried about anything; in fact, he was usually overly _not_ worried that it drove her crazy. But right now he looked, dare she say, scared?

She opened her mouth to try and form enough words to figure out what was going on, but he spoke over her, in a rush, to explain.

"Y-you weren't breathing, and Rosa was busy and the phoenix down didn't work, so…"

She stared blankly at him for a second, taking a long time to process each word since she still felt out of it, and every inch of her body had a pins-and-needles feeling.

Before she could say anything or ask him to finish his thought, he grabbed her in an embrace.

She could see over his shoulder Cecil finish Cagnazzo off while Rosa shot Barbariccia through the back of the head. The other two archfiends were already dead and FuSoYa had begun white magic.

Rydia was distracted when Edge whispered, "Don't you ever scare me like that again,"

She blinked and managed to say, "I'm sorry…"

He sighed and released her slowly, sitting back and tipping his head down to see her better, "Are you alright?" he asked in all seriousness.

She swallowed before speaking slowly, her voice sounding odd to her own ears, "I…think so…I'm a little…disoriented…"

She wanted to ask if the spell had worked, if meteor had even made a difference for the battle, but Edge didn't give her a chance.

He kissed her instead.

Rydia wondered why she wasn't more annoyed by the action or why she wasn't stopping him, but justified it that she was still dazed and therefore not thinking straight. Because if she _had_ been perfectly fine at that moment surely she would have smacked him or…something.

He pulled her into another embrace and spoke again, one hand on her cheek, "Never, _ever_ again, Rydia."

She closed her eyes, "Okay."

They stayed that way for a moment, but all too quickly for Rydia's taste he released her again and attempted to help her to her feet. She wanted to protest and complain, but before she knew it, Edge had her standing.

Not that she felt terribly stable on her feet. But he held onto her arm to keep her from falling.

"Rydia!" Rosa said, hurrying over now that the battle was officially over. In her concern, the white mage practically shoved Edge out of the way and grabbed both of the summoner's shoulders.

Rydia whined a little at all the movement while the other woman fused for a second and then cast a simple white magic spell that cleared some of the fog out of her brain.

After that she had her other injuries treated, all the while with Rosa asking her if she was fine.

"Yes, I am." she said every time, although she could have sworn the blonde woman ignored her.

After another minute of fusing, Cecil finally broke in with a question.

"Did you cast meteor?"

Rydia could tell by the tone of his voice that she was in trouble and glanced up warily, "Yes."

"Why?" he asked, looking more exasperated then angry.

She glared at him, "Because, we were losing! I…didn't want to see anything happen to any of you…"

He sighed, loudly, and Rosa turned her back around to face her, "Oh, but Rydia, you could have been killed!"

The summoner frowned, wanting to say that she did die. But then again, if she had died, how was she standing here?

"Alright, alright," Edge said, shooing Rosa away from her patient, "she already said she's fine so stop bugging her."

The white mage opened her mouth to protest but Edge waved his arm in front of her face, "My arm, on the other hand, is about to fall off. You want to cast a spell or something?"

Rosa huffed and grabbed it to treat it while Rydia tried not to giggle at the antics of their group.

Cecil touched her shoulder and she glanced up at him, nodding her head in self-chastising, "I know, I shouldn't ever do that again…"

He sighed again and closed his eyes, "Please don't."

Rydia did feel a little badly for having worried everyone so much, but she wasn't sure what they expected her to do when they were in such danger.

"I am glad you're alright," he said quietly, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

She smiled a little but was distracted by FuSoYa speaking.

"Little one, next time you decide to use that magic, allow me instead. I can withstand the power required."

She nodded, feeling dizzy again all of a sudden, "Noted."

Rosa finished with everyone's injuries as quickly as she could and then turned to look at Rydia again, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I am." she said, trying to make herself sound more confident then she was. Truthfully she was still out of it, but it didn't matter. The discomfort would most likely pass and she didn't want to worry anyone or slow them down.

If they believed her or not was in question judging by the look on Cecil's face, but she just smiled at him and nodded.

As they started once more on their way to stop the Giant, something nagged at her until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Edge,"

He glanced at her and she swallowed before asking, "Was I…really dead?"

"You weren't breathing," he replied, looking away.

She bit her lip and then narrowed her eyes, "But, you said the phoenix down didn't work, so…how am I alive right now?"

Edge didn't answer right away and she frowned, the beginnings of annoyance creeping into her being. As if he could sense it building, he sighed and shrugged, "Yes, the phoenix down didn't work. They never do when you really need them too, have you noticed that?"

"Don't get off topic," Rydia said, knowing how he liked to talk his way out of everything. "If that didn't work, and Rosa didn't revive me, then how am I alive right now?"

She hurried a few paces ahead so she could stand in front of him and bar his path, "Did you do something?"

Edge looked embarrassed if she didn't know any better, and he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"What does it matter? Your fine now."

She touched his arm, "It matters to me,"

With a loud, annoyed sigh, he explained, "It was sort of an accident, actually…I was just…worried about you and, well, you know how…unpredictable my magic can be."

Realization dawned on Rydia and she took a step back, eyes widening, "Did you use Blitz on me?"

"Maybe," he said, wincing.

She covered her mouth with her hands, "Bahamut!"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Edge said flippantly, shrugging.

She glared at him and he slid past her to keep walking, tossing over his shoulder, "It's not like you could have gotten deader."

She growled and hurried to catch up, debating using a little thunder herself, when he added fuel to the fire by commenting, "You're welcome, by the way. You're so ungrateful…"

"You got a kiss from me, that's all the thanks your getting." she snapped, crossing her arms and resolutely looking away from him.

"Eh, fine, I'll quit while I'm ahead."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Can you guess what things bother me? How about the Archfiends? They have no backstory-nada, zip, zero...all we know is that they...um...are elemental? I mean, they imply in the game that they are extremely powerful, and that they are a bad sign or something but...that's it. Square, why did you not explain these things? Nevermind, I will for you.

The battle with the Archfiends in the Giant. (I always forget about this whole Giant thing anyway. The only way I remember is I think 'wait, how do you get Kain back again?') This battle is not really all that hard. Do you know why? Because the Archfiends decide to stupidly attack you one at a time instead of gaining up on the party and flattening them.

How about Meteor? The spell is 'forbidden' and kills Teleh, and Rydia can just cast it whenever she wants with no ill effects? I guess she's just that special? Anyway, I don't believe it. And this is more dramatic anyway.

I now feel the need to rant.

I have seen and heard people complain about the ages of the characters in IV, and indeed, I agree and I always just pretend they are different. But, have you ever looked at the official height and weight of the characters? Rosa needs food at 103lbs, 5'4. Someone please feed her. But the worse? Alright, I'm a tall young woman at 5'9. According to Square Enix, Edge and I are the same height. Yet I refuse to believe that I weigh 18lbs more then him. 112lbs? Are you serious? No...just, no...

I'm done ranting for now, don't worry. And, I have another fic done and ready to post later!


End file.
